Heighway gone?

[ronan]

fine, just stop saying "end of"

[Lecter]

and his replacement is already on the club payroll

From what I have heard Benitez had no input on the Academy however hes put a lot of pressure on Heighway

Firstly he brought in Herrera to scout for young talent to supplement the youth squad

They then go and win the Youth Cup

Hes given players from the Academy a chance in the first team but they havent done well enough to warrant a place in the squad

He then brought in Elias as a scout and to liaise between the youth / reserve team and the Academy

All this is highlighting Heighways flaws and lack of success over the last few years

Subtly Benitez has eroded Heighways power and undermined him

I dont think its personal just Benitez thinks Heighways policies are outdated

[Lecter]

Rumour has it Heighway may well move to America to head up our soccer schools over there

This wouldnt surprise me

[lfc4ever]

fine, just stop saying "end of"

Nuff Sed, endof.

[bazza76]

Rumour has it Heighway may well move to America to head up our soccer schools over there

Really? He talks alot about his age and retirement these days (in his 60s).
Unless it was a real handy one he was getting, or a short term job offer.

[Pacman]

Really? He talks alot about his age and retirement these days (in his 60s).
Unless it was a real handy one he was getting, or a short term job offer.

He might want to retire in the states.

[lfc4ever]

I haven't seen this posted yet, sorry if it has:

Benitez 'lacks money' for young talent

By Tim Rich

Last Updated: 3:39am GMT 11/01/2007

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2007/01/11/sfnliv11.xml

The Anfield midfield crisis

It began in thick fog and ended in utter
humiliation by a bunch of teenagers with names
the Kop could barely pronounce. The response of
Liverpool's manager was a mixture of arrogance and a blank denial of reality.

He blamed the weather, he rounded on journalists
who claimed he had underestimated the opposition,
he made statements that were frankly laughable.
"We threw everything to the winds, they were just lucky."

Thus did Bill Shankly take a 5-1 beating in the
European Cup 40 years ago by a group of callow
boys with names like Cruyff, Nanninga and
Suurbier who would shortly turn Ajax into a world
power. He then disappeared into the fog that had been clogging Amsterdam.

The fog that triggered the postponement of last
month's Carling Cup quarter-final with Arsenal
ensured that two pivotal moments of Liverpool's
season would be shoehorned into the space of four
days. They lost both to the same opposition but
it was Tuesday night's 6-3 humbling by a side
containing six teenagers that caused Rafael
Benitez more hurt, as would the realisation that
Luis Garcia would not play again this season
because of a ruptured cruciate ligament.

It is a loss that Benitez could ill afford and
not just because his midfield is already racked
by injuries. Garcia may have been an erratic
figure in the Premiership but he has been a vital
contributor in the Champions League. And this is
now Liverpool's only realistic route to
silverware, albeit one blocked by Barcelona.
advertisement

Benitez drew some painful comparisons between
Arsenal's youth policy and the drift that has
been the feature of the Liverpool youth system
since Michael Owen, Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher emerged in the 1990s.

"When you analyse the situation, the conclusion
that worries me is that Arsenal could pick nine
reserves and score six goals at Anfield," he
said. "We had seven first-team players and could
not win. There is a lesson in this for the whole
of our club. If you want to compete at the top
level, you must be able to spend a lot of money,
not only on your first team but on the young
players and the reserves. Arsenal spent £4
million on Diaby, £4 million on Denilson, £8
million on Walcott and Baptista is a £22 million player.

"They have two or three players that we were
monitoring but could not sign because we did not
have the money. They have been working for 10
years to build a strong squad and we have been
working for two. My scouting department has done
an excellent job but sometimes we go too slowly
as a club to make the signings we need and, when
we do, there is not a lot of money. But today,
for example, we are signing a young Italian
keeper on loan [Daniele Padelli from Sampdoria],
we have worked for many weeks to sign the young
Scottish player, James McCarthy."

This may be too little too late. Under Gerard
Houllier, Liverpool also pursued a policy of
buying young talent while attempting to develop
their own under Steve Heighway at the Kirkby academy.

Neither was particularly successful and was not
helped by a relationship between the two men that
could politely be described as cool. Heighway
thought Houllier did not give his kids enough
chances, the Liverpool manager considered them not good enough.

The young stars Houllier did sign, such as
Anthony Le Tallec, Florent Sinama-Pongolle and
Gregory Vignal, never matched their reputation.
Of those nurtured on Merseyside, one by one
Stephen Wright, John Otsemobor and Neil Mellor
shone fitfully and were then loaned out and sold.

Stephen Warnock has been one of the successes but
he, too, may go. Newcastle manager Glenn Roeder
was at Anfield watching the left-back vainly
attempt to stem the flow of Arsenal counter-attacks.

On Tuesday, Benitez played Gabriel Paletta, a
young central defender who was part of the
Argentine side that won the World Youth
Championship. Liverpool are believed to have paid
£2 million for him. However, attempting to deal
with Jeremie Aliadiere, Paletta drew withering
criticism from the BBC's Mark Lawrenson.

The fans' verdict from the phone-ins, who damned
Benitez for not fielding a full-strength side,
was similar. The first words of Tommy Smith's
column in the Liverpool Echo were: "Humiliation. Shambles. Embarrassment."

Smith would remember that night in Amsterdam and,
unlike his old manager, he was not about to argue
that the opposition were lucky.

Harry Kewell: Not played since May because of
groin and foot problems. Expected back: March.

Momo Sissoko: Not played since November because
of dislocated shoulder. Expected back: early February.

Bolo Zenden: Not played since November because of
knee injury. Expected back: end of January.

Mark Gonzalez: Suffered shin injury on Tuesday.
Expected back: Beginning of February.

Luis Garcia: Suffered torn cruciate ligaments in
knee. Ruled out for the rest of the season.

[bazza76]

He might want to retire in the states.

That is true. Just sounds like a very hands on job, and not much of a retirement.
Unless his job would be just to get them off and running.

[lfc4ever]

He might want to retire in the states.

Deleted

[Neil Young]

The Anfield midfield crisis

It began in thick fog and ended in utter
humiliation by a bunch of teenagers with names
the Kop could barely pronounce. The response of
Liverpool's manager was a mixture of arrogance and a blank denial of reality.

He blamed the weather, he rounded on journalists
who claimed he had underestimated the opposition,
he made statements that were frankly laughable.
"We threw everything to the winds, they were just lucky."

Thus did Bill Shankly take a 5-1 beating in the
European Cup 40 years ago by a group of callow
boys with names like Cruyff, Nanninga and
Suurbier who would shortly turn Ajax into a world
power. He then disappeared into the fog that had been clogging Amsterdam.

That's a poem.

[Red_Polo]

total horse****:

the change that will happen at the top of the academy has been HEAVILY influenced by benitez. if youd said little influence on the way heighway works day to day you might have had a point

i'm led to believe he will work much more closely with elias

Tbh I think we all understood that to be what he meant

[Red_Polo]

posted about this some time ago

http://www.est1892.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=10030&highlight=elias

just a matter of time

Ah yes I do recall, thank you for posting it

Here's a pineapple...

[enema of the state]

Tbh I think we all understood that to be what he meant

maybe

i dont know his posting style well enough to second guess the intended meaning but thats NOT what his post said

[enema of the state]

Ah yes I do recall, thank you for posting it

Here's a pineapple...

[lfc4ever]

Ah yes I do recall, thank you for posting it

Here's a pineapple...

Is that Jason Lee in disguise?